Anila and Zakai's Story
by KatAang32
Summary: This is a sequel to Anila's Story, about their life together... After their son was taken be the Air Nomad leaders.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever had anything to do with AtLA or Nickelodeon.**

 **Prologue**

Only a few months had passed since the leaders of the Air Nomads took Anila's son from her. They refused to let her raise him because "He's the Avatar, and he needs to be raised in a structured environment to hone his power and learn of his duties." They had told her. Anila was so devastated that she had given up on life. Zakai and Karma had to take care of her, Zakai was so worried about losing not only her but their child she carried inside her. Anila had not made a single sound until she went into labor a month and a half later when she gave birth to a tiny and frail baby girl. Karma and Zakai watched as the grieving woman continued to slip away from them, bringing the baby girl with her.

"I know you're hurt that they took Aang!" Zakai told her. "I lost him too! I hurt too! But I refuse to lose you or our little girl! You need to feed her you need to eat! If you don't you will lose another child! When I burry her I don't even have a name to put on the marker! I can't do this anymore, and I don't know what to do!" He began to walk out of the room he heard the squeak of an unused voice.

"Minori."

"What?" Zakai asked as he turned back to her.

"Her name… Minori." Anila said softly.

"Please don't make me burry Minori." Zakai pleaded.

"I hurt so bad inside." Anila told him.

"Please come back to me! Please be my happy playful My Nila again." Zakai asked her. He wrapped his arms around her and to his surprise she closed hers around him. "I love you My Nila, I love you!"

"I love you too." Anila told him.

 **Chapter 1**

"Hello beautiful there, Mini!" Zakai said as he bent over the rocking cradle he had made for his daughter, and picked up the silver-eyed beauty and cuddled her. "Mommy is coming right now."

Anila was wiping flour off of her hands with her apron as she came walking into the bedroom. "She sounds hungry."

"She's always hungry." Zakai laughed. The tiny frail little girl had grown fat and healthy. She was greedy when she nursed. "I heard her crying all the way outside."

"Yeah, she has an airbender's lungs for sure." Anila said as she sat down in the rocking chair next to the cradle, stretching her arms out for her daughter. Anila still missed her happy, playful little boy badly, she had to remind herself almost daily that Monk Gyatso promised to let her spend the day with him at every Yangchan Festival. She started keeping a journal, all of its entries would be addressed to him, there she could tell him everything she would not get to, she always put in how much she loves him and how badly she missed him. Monk Gyatso was to give the Journal to him on his sixteenth birthday. Anila hummed as she feed her baby girl.

"You both are so beautiful." Zakai said as he kissed each of them on their soft cheeks. "I'm going to go back outside, I want to finish the kitchen for you."

"It will be nice having a kitchen, a sink to wash the dishes, a counter to cut the vegetables." Anila told him as she imagined her new kitchen. When Anila was young she couldn't wait to travel all the time, to constantly be going to the next beautiful place, the next wonderful sight. It all changed when she realized how she felt for the street preforming firebender she had meet on Ember Island. At first she didn't like him because he used words that Amitaruci had to get her to think he really liked her when in fact he only cared about was taking her innocents. Thinking that all he and every other man out there wanted what Amitaruci did, she felt guarded. She felt she needed to protect her heart against getting torn from her again. But now she was more than happy to stay in one place, with the man she loved… with her family, most of it at least.

"I'm planning to make us a table too." He told her as he waited for Anila's reaction.

"Really?!" Anila asked excitedly. "I could make pillows for us to sit on, I could stuff them with the fur Chesa sheds!" Happy that she loved the idea he left the room then went outside to do some more work in the kitchen addition.

Minori looked just like her mother, silvery-grey eyes with long eyelashes, shiny black hair, and beautiful pink heart shaped lips. The little girl had the lungs of an airbender, and her mother already believed she was an airbender, that's why she chose an airbender's name for the tiny girl. After the baby had her fill she drifted back off to sleep with a full tummy.

After laying the baby back in her rocker Anila went back to baking the bread she was working on to go with tonight's dinner. Anila placed the flour coated balls of dough into a basket, Zakai had bought her a clay oven that he was now building the new kitchen around. As she came around the corner she came upon a sight that she did not expect to see and froze in place. "Zakai?" He hadn't noticed her until she said something.

"I… uh… I… I'm sorry," He said to her as he wrapped his hand around something gold and shiny wiped his face. "I didn't hear you walk up."

"Are… Are you okay?" She asked as she examined his puffy red eyes.

"I'm fine." He sniffled.

"Why are your eyes all red… you look like you've been crying." Anila said as she sat next to him.

"I have allergies, that's all." He forced a smile.

"What's that in your hand?" She let the lie be for now, changing the subject to what he had in his hand, a tiny gold chain hanging from his clenched fist.

Zakai had done his best to stay strong, to take care of the woman he loved while he died inside, he lost his son that day too. Now that he didn't have to worry about losing his wife and daughter he was finally able to grieve over losing his son; to him Aang was just as much his child as Mini is. He moved his clenched hand over Anila's lap, palm side up, and slowly revealing a small golden heart on a gold chain. "I had this made after we got back home." He opened the small heart revealing a picture of Aang inside. "It came out perfectly and I… I miss my son too My Nila, I miss him so bad that my heart broke too… and this little heart… I just wanted to keep it to myself for a little while longer."

"I understand." She simply said then wrapped her arms tightly around him. "We can get through this together."

"I was so scared that I was losing you and Mini too. You wouldn't even eat or drink anything, Mini was so small and weak when she was born, and she didn't want the milk from our hippo cow, she almost slipped away forever." Zakai told her. "I didn't want you to see me like this."

"The locket is beautiful Zak, thank you… you can hold on to it as long as you need too." She told him then turned her attention back to her basket. "I need to get these in the oven so that they will be ready when the rest of dinner is." Anila stood up and went to her clay oven, with the long handled paddle she placed each loaf deep inside when the temperature was just the right temperature for baking bread.

Zakai took hold of Anila's hand as she walked by, he pulled her down into his lap and wrapped his arms around her small frame and held her against him. "You are such a wonderful woman Anila, I am so happy we found each other."

"I am too." Anila laid her head against his chest and listened to the soothing sound of his heartbeat until the calmness was broken by the cries of their daughter. "You really can hear here all the way out here." Anila laughed as she stood up and went back into the house, she was followed closely by the child's father.

"I told you I could hear her." Zakai said to her.

"She's an airbender, I can tell already." Anila laughed.

"I'll be the only non-airbender here!" Zakai laughed as he followed her into their room to get Mini.

"She needs her diaper changed!" Anila said as she placed the baby on the bed in front of her and began working to get the soiled diaper off of the very angry little girl, Zakai brought her a clean diaper from the stack on the nearby dressing table. It didn't take long to complete the job, and as soon as they did they had a happy little wide-eyed baby girl that was cooing at her parents.

"She's as beautiful as her mother!" Zakai said as he brushed the baby's cheek with the back of his knuckles.

…

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	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever had anything to do with AtLA or Nickelodeon.**

 **"BG means "Before [Air Nomad] Genocide" which happens when Aang is 12 years old.**

…

 **Chapter 2**

 **BG 25**

" _Zarah, you're never going to guess what I have been chosen for!" A kind-eyed man in armors said as he came rushing home._

" _What is it Alonzo?" She asked as she wiped her hands on her apron._

" _I've been chosen to lead one of Fire Lord Sozin's new colonies in the Earth Kingdom!" The man excitedly told his wife._

" _That's wonderful news." Then the woman's smile fell. "What about our home here?"_

" _It will stay ours!" He told her. "I have to get the settlement setup before you and Zakai can join me there. I'll be a governor Zarah! A governor! I'll finally be able to give you the life you deserve!" Zarah looked around their small home, she had spent years turning it into a home. This was where her son was born, where she raised him for the last seven years. He could see the sadness in her eyes. "There we will have a huge estate, servants to do the chores, a tall wall all the way around the estate and a huge garden for Zakai to play in… and maybe with our bigger house and more money, we can try for that baby girl you want." The last line left her with a large smile._

" _That would be wonderful!" She told him. After their son Zakai was born the couple decided their how was too small and he made far too little money to have another child. It broke Zarah's heart because she always wanted a baby girl._

" _Mama I'm home from school!" Her sweet little boy called as he walked into the kitchen for a snack. "Daddy! You're home early!" The boy wrapped his arms around the fit man. "Can you teach me more firebending? Please?" The boy had a pouty face on that was so pathetic that it made his parent laugh._

" _Of course I can!" The man laughed as he scooped the scrawny boy up in his arms and squeezed him tightly. "Oh No… It's coming!" The man started laughing as the boy in his arms squirmed around. "It's going to get you!"_

" _No!" The boy hollered as he wiggled around._

" _Too late, it's already here!" The man started tickling his son, and kissing the boy all over his face._

" _No Dad! No! Boy kisses Yuck!" The boy yelled. After adding a few more on his son's face he stopped and set him down._

" _One day you're going to miss my kisses." Alonzo told the boy as he swatted at his butt. "Go to the backyard, I'll be out in a minute."_

" _I'm so happy Zarah! We finally made it!" He told her. "I knew is I stuck it out and worked hard we'd finally get a step up!"_

" _A step up?! More like a few whole stories up!" She laughed as she kissed him. "It's going to be wonderful… but how are we going to survive while you are gone?"_

" _That's the beauty of it! They will be taking care of you here, everything you need, and paying me there too!" He smiled down at his wife. "The Fire Nation has been so prosperous under Fire Lord Sozin's rule that we are going to share our prosperity with the rest of the world!"_

" _Dad!" The boy popped his head through the open door. "I'm ready! Hurry up!"_

" _Okay, okay! I'm coming." The older man chuckles as he followed the boy back out the door. Zarah laughed, Zakai was just like his father, and he wanted to know everything he could about firebending. He had even told his parents that he was going to join the Armed Forces just like his father._

 _Zakai may have been a scrawny little seven year old boy but he had the heart of a man. Whenever his father had to go away he'd take the role of the man of the house, protecting his mother and doing all the man's chores around the house. And in his free time he was building a small clubhouse in the far corner. He did work for his neighbors to earn money as well._

" _Ok, Zakai, We're going to do three fire punches and a kick." The man told his son. "Ready?" The boy put a determined look on his face and gave a single nod. "One, two, three, kick!" he said to his son as the boy copied his moves exactly._

" _Come on Dad, I'm ready to learn more!" Zakai said turning to his father. "We've been working on punching and kicking for a whole month now, I can do it fine watch!" The boy flawlessly repeated the moves ten consecutive times in a row. "See I practice all the time, please teach me the next set."_

" _I guess you little boy is growing up! Okay on to the next set then." Zakai's father said causing the boy to jump up and down excitedly clapping his hands. "This one is a bit more difficult, we're going to learn the squat and sweep, watch me closely." Alonzo punched the air twice then dropped down on one foot kicking and sweeping at his invisible opponent with his free leg producing a flame out the bottom of his foot. The move would effectively sweep the opponent's legs out from under him causing him to fall and lose any advantage he could have. "Now you try."_

 _Zakai mimicked his father's moves, punched perfectly, but when it came time to do drop down onto one foot Zakai failed miserably, falling over each time he attempted the move. "Why. Can't. I. Get. It!" The boy said, frustrated that the move wasn't as easy as it looked._

" _Patience my son, you'll get it I promise!" Alonzo patted the boy on his shoulder. "You are a great firebender for your age, just keep practicing."_

" _Okay Dad." The boy said then repeated the move over and over. The man went back into the house to see who dinner was coming along._

" _We will tell him the news at dinner tonight." Zarah told her husband as she cut the slab of meat in front of her into cubes for the stew she was making. Her favorite spot in the whole kitchen was at a window that gave her the perfect view of her son practicing every day. "He wants to be just like you." She told her husband as he came up behind her encapsulating her in his loving arms._

" _Just like me?" He asked her._

" _Yeah, he loves you so much… I think it will break his heart to know you have to go away for a little while." She told her husband._

" _I know but in the colony he will make new friends and have a better yard to practice in." Alonzo smiled, "Forget the clubhouse, he could build a whole house in our yard." He chuckled." Besides it won't be for a while, they are still choosing soldiers that will go to get the colony set up."_

…

" _Zakai, dinner is ready!" His mother called through the open window. The boy was still practicing the move, she smiled seeing that he almost had the drop down part mastered, he fell over less often._

" _Okay Mom, I'm coming." Zakai told her then attempted the move just one more time before heading towards the house._

" _Wash up first!" She yelled as he passed their water well._

" _Okay mom!" He tossed the weighted bucket into the deep stone lined hole, he waited a minute then brought the full bucket back to him. After plashing water on his face he poured the rest of the water into another bucket to bring the water inside. His mother always used this water to make tea to go with their dinner. Just as Zakai came in with the water there was a knock at their door. Zakai set the bucket on the counter then ran to the door and opened it._

" _Hello Zakai! You are growing so fast!" The man at the door was Alonzo's right hand man, he knew the family well and the family knew him well._

" _Mom! Dad! Ozone is here!" Zakai hollered._

" _Hello Ozon! Such a pleasure to see you! We were just about to sit down to dinner, would you like to join us?" Zakai's mother asked._

" _That would be lovely Zarah, thank you so much." Ozon happily took the invitation. Everyone sat around the table, filling their bowls as the food was passed around. "Alonzo you are one lucky man, I wish I had a family like yours… A beautiful wife that is an amazing cook and a handsome son, he's growing like bamboo!"_

" _I'm sure that one day you will find yourself a wonderful wife and have lots of children." Alonzo told him_

" _Zakai, your father has some great news he wants to share with us." Zakai's mother said as she reached across the table and squeezed her husband's hand supportively._

" _Zakai, I have been chosen to be the governor of one of Fire Lord Sozin's new colonies! We will have a bigger house and I will be making a lot more money!" His father explained._

" _Really?!" The seven year old boy humped out of his seat. "I can't wait to go! When do we go?"_

" _Well here's the hard part… I have to go over without you to get the colony set up then you and your mother will be joining me a little later."_

" _But… but what about training? You can't just leave without me not knowing how to firebend!" Zakai began to panic. "If you're gone how will we have money to eat? I… I'm not old enough to work."_

" _Slow down…" Alonzo laughed. "It won't be for a while Zakai, I will still be here to teach you. Once you and your mother join me I can teach you more than too."_

" _Are you going too, Ozon?" Zakai's mother asked him._

" _I'm Alonzo's right hand man, wherever he goes I go!" Ozon answered then took a bite of his food. "Mmmmmm." He hummed as he chewed._

" _Maybe you'll find a sweet Earth Kingdom girl to settle down with." Alonzo said with a laugh punching his best friend in his shoulder._

" _I just hope she's a great a cook a Zarah." He said then stuffed his mouth again._

…

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 **The more reviews I get the sooner I'll update.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever had anything to do with AtLA or Nickelodeon.**

 **"BG means "Before [Air Nomad] Genocide" which happens when Aang is 12 years old.**

…

Chapter 3

" _MOM!" Zakai yelled as he came running in the house. "MOM!"_

" _What Zakai?" She asked, she was in the kitchen cooking the family's dinner. "What is it?"_

" _Everyone is talking about it!" The boy told her. "They're all talking about sharing our prosperity with the world! The colonies are gunna be set up soon!"_

" _We should wait and see what your father says when he comes home." Zarah told her son as she went back to cutting the vegetables for her special stew._

" _Mom?" Zakai had a worried look on his face._

" _What is it sweetie?" His mother asked him, seeing the worried look on the boy's face._

" _They won't go before my birthday next month, will they?" Zakai asked her. "Dad said he was going to take me fishing on my birthday."_

" _I hope not," She told him. "But it all depends on when Fire Lord Sozin sends them."_

" _Dad promised, though." Zakai whined, his mother went to him and knelt down in front of him._

" _Sweetie, why don't you go outside and practice your firebending, I bet your father will be happy to see you master the new moves he taught you."_

" _Okay mom." Zakai said hurrying into the garden to practice._

…

" _Hello, My Love!" Alonzo said as he came walking in their front door. "Where's Zakai?"_

" _He's in the garden practicing. He wants to show you how good he's gotten at firebending." Zarah told him as she went up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek._

" _I have wonderful news to tell you both at dinner tonight." He told her._

" _I have news for you too." She told him._

" _I can't wait!" He told her then he went outside to check on his son. Zakai had his back to the house as he was practicing, he hadn't noticed his father watching him. After several minutes Alonzo spoke up. "You're getting so good at firebending!" Zakai spun around in surprise._

" _How… how long have you been watching me?" He asked his father._

" _For a little while. I'm so proud of you, you are going to be a great firebender." Alonzo told his son as he picked the boy up and set him on his shoulder._

" _I'm going to be a Fire Nation Soldier just like you Dad!" Zakai always wanted to be just like his father._

" _Dinner is ready!" Zarah called to them._

" _You hear that?" Alonzo told his son._

" _Mom made her special stew!" Zakai told his father._

" _I wonder what the special occasion is." His father asked him._

" _I don't know… But I heard the colonies will be set up soon." Zakai told his father._

" _Wash up!" They heard the woman call to them._

 _Zarah was humming a happy little tune as she set the table, right as she finished setting the last place setting there was a knock on the door. She smiled and shook her head, "Hello Ozon!" She said as she opened the door. "You always make it just in time for dinner."_

" _I can smell your cooking all the way from my one-room apartment." He joked. "And of course I am always drawn by your beauty."_

" _Alonzo and Zakai will be in in just a moment, they're washing up right now." Zarah told him then returned to the kitchen, living him standing by himself in the front room._

" _Hey Ozon, What brings you over?" Alonzo asked as she and Zakai came in from the garden._

" _I could smell your wife's cooking from my place." His friend joked. "I hope one day I have a family just like yours."_

" _I think you will find a sweet woman to marry soon." Alonzo told his best friend. "Maybe a sweet Earth Kingdom girl." They had been best friends since they were children, the both grew up along the same gutter. Their families were both very poor, having to help bring in money neither of them had gotten a chance to go to school for more than a few years. At the age of ten Alonzo was hired to clean at the best firebending school in the entire region, while there he learned to be a great firebender. When he and Ozon turned fifteen they both joined the military. Because of his advanced firebending skills, Alonzo, rose above his best friend, then above the entire company, becoming their captain. During that time he met a beautiful young woman, they married and within their first year they became parents to a beautiful little boy. Ozon, wasn't as lucky, he was directly under Alonzo but he never found a woman to love._

" _Yeah, eventually…" Ozon said as he followed his friend into the dining area. "So what's the occasion?" Ozon asked as he looked at the table full of all of Zarah's special dishes._

" _Well," Zarah smiled at her husband. "Alonzo said he had some good news and I have some good news too! You go first!"_

" _Zakai has heard right, we will be leaving soon to set up the colonies!" Alonzo winked at his son._

" _When will you be leaving?!" Zakai asked frantically. "My… My birthday in in a month and you promised to take me fishing Dad… You Promised!" Alonzo's smile fell._

" _I know I promised, but I promised you guys a better life." Alonzo told him. "We… We will be leaving in two weeks."_

" _My birthday fishing trip though!" The seven year old boy started to tear up. His mother took hold of his hand._

" _We are going to have a better life sweetie!" She told him. Alonzo's heart was breaking too._

" _I tell you what, we will go fishing this weekend! What do you think of that?" His father asked him._

" _Really? This weekend?" Zakai asked as he wiped away the few tears that had escaped._

" _Yes, just you and me buddy!" Alonzo smiled._

" _O… okay daddy!" The boy smiled._

" _Now that that's handled." Alonzo smiled. "I can finish telling you all of my news. It should only take a couple months to set up the colony then you both will be joining me!"_

" _That's such wonderful news!" Zarah said to him. "Now for my news!"_

" _It must be something great!" Ozon smiled as he stuffed one of her rice balls into his mouth._

" _Okay," Zarah smiled nervously. "Well depending on how long it will take for you to send for us," She shifted nervously. "You might be sending for three not two."_

" _You're… You're…" Alonzo stuttered._

" _I'm going to have another baby!" Zarah told them. Alonzo jumped up and hugged his wife._

" _I'll make sure we are together when you have the new baby!" Alonzo was so happy. "I'll get everything set up as quickly as I can. They're sending me to a remote village in the Earth Kingdom, it is struggling and with our help, the Fire Nation's help, we will be bringing jobs and money to the area… How… how long until the baby comes?" Zarah started laughing at her husband's excitedness._

" _We have over seven months." She told him. "I just found out today."_

" _What wonderful news." Ozon told them. "Everything seems so great for you, like always." Alonzo could her a bit of jealousy in his friend's voice._

" _Oh, come on man, be happy for us. You will have your own children soon, I just know it!"_

" _Yeah, I guess… It's getting late, I better get going. We have a lot of work ahead of us." Ozon said as he walked to the front door. "Dinner was great Zarah. Goodbye everyone."_

" _Bye!" They all called back to him as he shut the door behind himself._

…

" _What's wrong with Ozon?" Zarah asked as she got ready for bed. "He just seemed to change… I've never seen him like that."_

" _He's always been jealous of my 'good fortune' he calls it." Alonzo shook his head. "It's not all luck, Zarah, he thinks it is but it's not… When I was a boy I spent hours scrubbing that school's floors, making them as shiny as the Master wanted them to be… then when I got home I slept for only two or three hours a night practicing what I watched those spoiled kids preform halfheartedly, Zarah… I was never lucky, I am a hard worker. I worked for everything I have, I worked hard for the pretty flower shop girl to notice me."_

" _I'm going to let you in on a little secret." Zarah wrapped her arms around his waist. "That flower shop girl noticed you long before you ever noticed her."_

…

* * *

 **Now that you are at the bottom of the page, please take a few seconds to leave me a review.**

 **The more reviews I get the sooner I'll update.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever had anything to do with AtLA or Nickelodeon.**

 **"BG means "Before [Air Nomad] Genocide" which happens when Aang is 12 years old.**

 **...**

 **Chapter 4**

" _It's time to wake up." A tall muscular man said to his sleeping son. "We got to get going so we can catch the big fish."_

" _It's still dark." The boy told his father._

" _I know but we need to go now for the big ones." Alonzo told Zakai. "You can sleep on the way." The boy forced himself to climb out of bed, still half asleep, he pulled on his shirt and followed his father out the door. Alonzo already had everything packed and loaded up in the family's wagon. He help Zakai onto the back then climbed on to the front seat. "Heeyaw!" He yelled at the Ostrich-horses and they began their fishing trip._

 _The fishing trip was always a weeklong trip that they had shared ever since Zakai was five years old, they always went on his birthday. A special guy's Trip, just the two of them._

…

" _Are we there yet?" Zakai asked as he bounced up and down on the seat next to his dad._

" _Not yet." Alonzo chuckled. "Soon, I promise."_

" _I can't wait to catch a fish!" Zakai laughed. "I'm gunna catch one as big as this!" The boy stretched his arms out as wide as he could, accidentally hitting his father's stomach._

" _Ooofff!" Alonzo joked. "You're getting stronger."_

" _I'm going to grow as big as you Dad! I want to be just like you! A great firebender and a strong soldier for our wonderful nation!"_

" _You make me so proud." Alonzo said as he put his arm around Zakai's shoulder. "You're my best bud!"_

" _We'll always be best buds won't we?" The boy asked._

" _Forever and always." Alonzo told his son. They turned down a road that went straight to a beautiful inlet, the very same spot they always went to. "We're almost there!"_

" _I can't wait!" Zakai said, then climbed back into the bed of the wagon and started digging through their stuff._

" _Hey, hey, hey!" Alonzo told him. "I had that stuff organized!"_

" _I was just looking for the tent." Zakai told him._

" _Don't worry Zakai, we'll get everything set up just fine."_

" _I want to go swimming right away though, I know that we have to set up the tent first…" Zakai rationalized. "_

" _You'll get to go swimming soon enough." He told his son. "Digging through our stuff will only make it take longer to unload and set up camp."_

" _Sorry Daddy." The boy said as returned to his seat next to his father._

" _It's okay Buddy." His father told him. "We'll get camp set up in no time, then you can go swimming."_

 _It didn't take long for the father and son to arrive at their regular spot. As soon as the stopped Zakai started helping his father unload. "Let's knock this out quickly, you hop in the back and push the stuff to me at the end, we should be done in no time!"_

" _Okay Dad!" Zakai said excitedly as he hopped into the back of their wagon. The pair worked quickly, completing the unloading and came set up in only about an hour._

" _Here's the basket mom packed for our lunch!" Zakai told his father as he sat down next to him. Alonzo took the basket and opened it._

" _Your mother has spoiled us!" He said as he pulled out a beautifully painted wooden box, inside was steamed dumplings, a crock of her special hippo-beef stew and a hand embroidered cloth sack of sweet rolls._

" _Mom makes exactly the same lunch every year." Zakai laughed._

" _And every year we love it!" Alonzo told him, ruffling the boy's black hair. The two laughed and talked as they enjoyed their lunch, as soon as Zakai put his last bite into his mouth he started stripping down to his underwear, still chewing, and ran for the water._

 _Alonzo watched his son splash in the water as he set up a drying lines for the fish they were going to be catching. He used two tall branches, buried deep for stability, and ran rope from one to another for each of the three he made. This was more than just a "Guy's fishing trip" It also supplied nearly half of their winter supply of meat, which helped supplement the family's food supply. They would definitely need it this year too, with Zarah carrying their second child._

 _Alonzo brought poles and thin fishing line, he also brought a couple casting nets, his preferred way. He set everything up, preparing to fish in the morning. "Time to come in!" He hollered to his son._

" _Okay Dad!" The boy hollered back, as he turned and hopped over the waves as they crashed against the sandy beach._

 _Alonzo chuckled as he watched his son, if everything goes as planned this would be their very last time fishing here. One of the first personal things he planned to do after starting the new colony was to look for a great fishing spot, somewhere where Zakai could have fun playing in the water, and have a good amount of fish for them to catch. Not that they would need the extra food for the winter time, being a governor would greatly raise his income._

 _For dinner they finished off the rest of what was left from lunch along with some dried fruit they had in a sack. "Zak, When I'm gone you're going to be the man of the house."_

" _The man of the house?" Zakai asked. "What does that mean?"_

" _It means you are going to have to take care of your mother." Alonzo explained. "You are going to have to do the chores that I usually have to do."_

" _Like cleaning the yard?" Zakai asked._

" _Yes, like cleaning the yard." Alonzo chuckled. Suddenly the boy's expression changed._

" _Do I have to get a job, and work like you do, to pay bills?" Zakai asked._

" _No," Alonzo chuckled some more, "while I am gone my pay will be going to be given to you and Mommy."_

" _How will you get food and stuff?" Zakai asked._

" _The Fire Nation will be taking care of all that, they will even be paying for the house we will live in." Alonzo explained._

" _Is… is it going to be a big house, Daddy?" The seven year old asked his father._

" _Yes it will Zakai, and it will have a huge garden where we can practice firebending together." The boy's father told him. Alonzo watched as his son's smile faded._

" _Will we be able to go fishing and camping like we do here?" The boy worried._

" _As soon as the colony gets set up I'm going to look for a great spot to have our father son fishing trip!" He reassured the boy. "We will always have out fishing trip."_

" _Flamio!"The boy exclaimed as he jumped up. "I love camping so much! When I grow up I'm going to go camping all the time!"_

" _All the time?" Alonzo chuckled._

" _ALL THE TIME!" The boy hollered into the indigo sky._

" _You want to live like Air Nomads?" Alonzo jokingly asked the boy._

" _I've never seen an Airbender before." Zakai said. "Have you Dad?"_

" _I've seen several in the marketplace." Alonzo told him._

" _What do they look like?" Zakai asked his father._

" _Well…" Alonzo thought for a moment. "They have blue tattoos… The men have their heads shaved on top but most had thin beards along their jaw lines." Alonzo traced a line on his face, drawing an invisible beard. "Some women had the top front of their heads shaved, some don't. They wear red, yellow, orange, and brown clothes… And they carry tall staffs that open up to become gliders."_

" _What's a glider?" Zakai asked him._

" _A glider is something they use to fly around." Alonzo told him as he readied the fire for the night ahead._

" _Fly?" Zakai asked. "Like a bird?"_

" _Well sort of, they don't flap anything but they do sore through the air like hawks do." He told his son._

" _Oh wow!" Zakai said looking up at the sky. "It must be amazing to see… I wish I could fly through the air!"_

" _Maybe someday you'll make friends with an airbender, then you could ask them to take you on a glider ride." Alonzo told his son._

" _Where do you find them?" Zakai asked._

" _Well…" Alonzo thought for a few minutes before answering. "They always move around, sometimes staying in an area from a couple days to a few months, it depends on the airbender… They usually follow the same travel path every year, visiting the same places."_

" _I would love to meet one someday!" The boy said with a yawn._

" _Okay, buddy it's time to go to bed, the fish are up early so we have to be too." Alonzo told his son as he helped the boy into his sleeping bag for the night._

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